The fashion, design, and everyday life musings of a Los Angeles native who dyes her hair black rather than blonde (yet who loves all things sparkly, fuchsia, and kitty-related)

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Fonuts According To A Real Nut

A few months ago the former pastry chef of Jose Andres's Bazaar opened up Fonuts, a shop devoted to baked donuts. While the reception has been lukewarm at best, with most people annoyed at the idea of selling round pieces of cake as donuts, I am willing to try anything simultaneously sweet and cutesy. What can I say? Sometimes even if don't believe the hype, I reaaally want to anyway. Besides, tempted by the holiday flavors of pumpkin and gingerbread, I was willing to risk disappointment for the sake of sugary comforts.

The gluten free pumpkin was delicious. Seriously, the moistness of the cake coupled with just a touch of overtly sweet glaze, the spiciness, and the fact that it was devoid of wheat flour, made it something worth coming back for and a delicious morning treat with some strong coffee. Sadly, there was no gingerbread on the day so I went with salted caramel. Mistake! The salt suffered from the stickiness of the caramel and mostly stuck to the bag it was packaged in. But even the salty-sweet combo couldn't have saved this sad donut imposter. The cake itself was incredibly dry and sort of spongy, with the caramel weirdly textured. It reminded me of childhood experiences back in the day when my mom would buy a box of hideous Kosher for Passover cake mix for the sedar dessert and the result was something even a sugar-crazed kid wouldn't touch. Not sure how that's even possible, but after one bite I was ready to chuck it in the bin. There seems to be a real inconsistency in the cakes here (some of the donuts are half the size of others but still upwards of $3? Bitch, please) and unfortunately, it leaves me feeling like Fonut is a bit bipolar rather than just acting like something it's not. So would I still be willing to risk it on gingerbread? Well...I did say I'm a nut, didn't I?